Greig Tonkins is a zookeeper at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales, Australia. ^[3]He is also a member of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, a pig hunting organization.

In June 2016, Greig Tonkins went on a boar-hunting trip with a number of his friends.

^[4]This included his 19-year-old friend Kailem who passed away after a battle with Ewing Sarcoma. ^[4]Another one of Tonkins' friends, Greg Bloom, filmed more than an hour of video to put together a DVD for Kailem and his family of the trip. ^[2]

During the trip, while Tonkins was out hunting wild pigs, his dog Max was attacked by a kangaroo; he was caught in a headlock. ^{[3] [4]}Tonkins rushed to save Max, and the kangaroo let go of the headlock once Tonkins was close enough to the scene. ^[0]The dog broke loose and ran away, and the kangaroo focused its attention on Greig. Tonkins then gave the kangaroo a light punch to the face, which stunned him momentarily before hopping away.

Mathew Amor, the man who organized the trip, told reporters that it was totally out of character for his Tonkins to do what he did:

“It was funny because the guy who did it is the most placid bloke.

We laughed at him for chucking such a sh*t punch.”

^[2]

The bit where Tonkins punched the kangaroo went viral on social media in December 2016. ^[0]

He has received public backlash by animal activists and even death threats since the video went viral. ^[3]